Australian government pledges to protect Great Barrier Reef

SYDNEY | By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY Feb 1 The Australian government pledged
to stop coal port or shipping developments that would cause
damage to the Great Barrier Reef as it responded to a Friday
deadline amid U.N. warnings that the reef's conservation status
could be downgraded.

UNESCO warned last June that the World Heritage Site could
be listed as "in danger" if there was no evidence of progress by
Feb. 1 on protecting the reef from threats that also include
climate change and the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, which
is wearing away the world's largest living structure.

"The Great Barrier Reef is an iconic Australian
environmental asset, the government is absolutely committed to
the protection of the reef and our oceans," said Federal
Environment Minister Tony Burke as he released the country's
report to UNESCO. "We will not cut corners or give an inch on
protecting it."

Heralded as one of the seven natural wonders of the world,
the 2,000 km (1,200 mile) Great Barrier Reef is home to 400
types of coral, 240 species of birds and 1,500 species of fish.
It is worth A$6 billion a year in tourism to the local economy.

But coal is one of Australia's top export earners and the
state of Queensland is the country's largest coal producer. The
reef faces growing threats from shipping driven by coal project
expansions.

UNESCO, which gave the reef World Heritage status in 1991,
made a number of proposals to the national and Queensland state
governments on managing the reef, such as halting further port
construction and limiting ship numbers.

"The World Heritage Committee can be assured that no new
port developments or associated port infrastructure have been
approved outside existing long-established major port areas
since the committee made this recommendation," the government's
report said.

"A project will only be approved by the Australian
government environment minister if the residual impacts on
protected matters, including 'outstanding universal value', are
determined to be not unacceptable."

The Australian government has already invested A$200 million
($208 million) in its Reef Rescue program and said on Friday it
would provide an additional A$800,000 to fight the
crown-of-thorns starfish, which prey on the reef and have
multiplied amid nutrient rich flood waters in the past few
years.

Most of the extra funding will be used to employ a second
boat to remove the starfish from "high-value tourism reefs"
identified as under threat, with the remainder going to the
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to investigate a
long-term solution.

A recent study by AIMS researchers found that the pace of
coral loss on the reef has increased since 2006 and if the trend
continues, coral cover could halve again by 2022, with the
southern and central areas most affected.

Globally, reefs are being assailed by myriad threats,
particularly rising sea temperatures, but the threat to the
Great Barrier Reef is even more pronounced, the AIMS study
found.

The government said in its report it believed the reef has
the "capacity to recover if the right conditions are in place."

Green groups, who are hoping place the reef on the political
agenda this year amid campaigning for a federal election in
September, said the report does not go far enough.

"The sheer size and speed of port and associated development
along the Reef coast is unprecedented, said Robert Leck, the
campaign director of the World Wildlife Fund. "There's more
dredging, more ships and more turtles and coral dying."
($1 = 0.9587 Australian dollars)
(Reporting By Jane Wardell, editing by Elaine Lies)